Tuesday, August 18, 1998 Last modified at 1:14 a.m. on Tuesday, August 18, 1998

State health investigators still looking at bacterial outbreak

GALVESTON (AP) - State health investigators are continuing to investigate the bacterial outbreak that sickened hundreds of Galveston Bay oyster eaters earlier this summer, but there's still no word on when harvesting will resume.

The Texas Department of Health says a "major epidemiological investigation" in cooperation with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will determine when it will be safe to reopen oystering in Galveston Bay.

"We're just trying to get to the bottom of this scientifically to help the oyster people," said Dennis Baker, who heads TDH's food and drug safety bureau. Investigators are analyzing stool samples of people sickened by eating raw oysters.

As of July 21, 368 people from Texas and six other states had fallen ill to Vibrio parahaemolyticus infections, 66 of which were confirmed by laboratories.

The agencies have discovered the presence in Galveston Bay of a particularly aggressive strain of Vibrio parahaemolyticus that, Baker said, "hadn't been seen previously in the Gulf Coast." It's more common on Japanese coasts, he said. Bay salt levels are higher than normal because the summer drought has slowed the inflow of fresh river water. It's hoped that recent rains in east and southeast Texas will pump more fresh water into the bay.

The FDA might allow the restart of oyster harvesting provided the shellfish are processed immediately. Baker said restaurateurs and oyster producers also would have to come to a formal agreement that the product would be cooked soon after harvest to prevent bacterial proliferation.